Hang rod assembly



April 26, 1966 R. R. RUHNKE 3,241,973

HANG ROD ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 14, 1964 n INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

United States Patent C) 3,247,973 HANG RUB ASfiEll HBLY Richard R. Ruhnlre, Skolrie, lit, assignor to Garey Corporation, a corporation of Illinois Filed Sept. 14, 1964, Ser. No. 396,161 4 (Ilairns. (Cl. Ell-105.1)

This invention relates to a hang rod assembly, and is particularly concerned with an adapter that may be readily secured to a conventional support bracket for supporting a tubular hang rod of any desired length.

The adapter, which is preferably in the form of a casting, comprises a base member and a support member extending transversely of the base member at the outer end of the base member. The base member of the adapter is secured to the outer end portion of a conventional support bracket and is locked in place by a single screw. The support member has a support surface and a centrally disposed upstanding wall extending longitudinally of the support member. The upper edge portion of the upstanding wall'has a projection extending outwardly from each side of the wall to provide a pair of shoulders extending the entire length of the wall. The projections are preferably in the form of a thickened upper edge portion, but may be formed in'any suitable manner, as, for example, by ledges extending parallel to the upper edge of the wall.

The tubular hang rod is formed of a metal strip that is bent into any suitable shape with its longitudinal edges reversely bent inwardly of the hang rod to form two parallel resilient wall portions. The resilient wall portions are normally spaced from each other a distance less than the thickness of the portion of the upstanding wall of the adapter below the shoulders projecting from the upper edge portion of said wall. Each of said resilient wall portions has a height approximately equal to the distance between the support surface of the adapter and said shoulders. The hang rod is snapped into place by forcing the resilient wall portions over the upstanding wall. The upper edges of the resilient wall portions of the hang rod abut the shoulders projecting outwardly from the upper edge portion of the upstanding wall to lock the hang rod against vertical movement relative to the adapter.

A plurality of hang rods are mounted on the adapters in end to end relationship to provide an installation of any desired length. Each joint between adjoining hang rods is reinforced by a splice bar positioned entirely within the tubular hang rods. The splice bars are shaped to conform to the cross-sectional configuration of the hang rod, except that the free longitudinal edges of the splice bar terminate in engagement with the reverse bend of the hang rod adjacent the lower ends of the resilient wall portions.

When the hang rod is mounted on the adapter, its upper surface, upon which a plurality of garment hangers are to be supported, is smooth, and is spaced above the adapter far enough so that the garment hangers may slide freely over the upper surface of the hang rods without interference from the support bracket or the adapter.

The structure by means of which the above mentioned and other advantages of the invention are attained will be fully described in the following specification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing three preferred illustrative embodiments of the invention, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of an elongated hang rod installation with parts omitted to facilitate illustration of the structure;

FIG. 2 is a View, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing one embodiment of hang rod mounted on an adapter;

FIG. 3 is a detail perspective view of a splice bar adapted for use with the hang rod of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view, similar to FIG. 2, showing a hang rod of different shape;

FIG. 5 is a view, similar to FIG. 2, showing a hang rod of another shape; and

FIG. 6 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing an adapter mounted on a support bracket, and also showing a splice bar in place.

In the drawings, a plurality of support brackets 11 are mounted in pilaster strips 12 secured in upright position to the front of a wall or partition 13. Each support bracket comprises a flat metal strip having two vertically aligned hook-shaped members 14'. at one end adapted to extend into vertically spaced slots 15 in the pilaster to secure the support bracket to the pilaster. The support brackets are uniform in size, and their outer ends are in transverse alignment when they are secured to the pilasters.

The adapter 16, preferably of cast aluminum, comprises a base member 17 and a hang rod support 18 extending transversely of the outer end of the base member. The base member is secured to the support bracket by a screw 19. Preferably base member 17 has a shallow recess forming a horizontal abutment 2% adapted to engage the top of the support bracket, and a vertical abutment 21 adapted to engage the outer end of the support bracket when the adapter is mounted on the support bracket. Abutments 2c and 2t cooperate with screw 19 to hold the adapter rigidly against the support bracket.

Hang rod support 18 preferably has a flat top supporting surface 22. It will be understood, however, that surface 22 may be concave, if desired. An upstanding wall 23 extending longitudinally of the hang rod support is disposed centrally of support surface 22. The upper edge portion of wall 23 is enlarged, as indicated at 24, to

provide shoulders 25 projecting outwardly on each side of the upstanding wall. The upper edge of the upstandto facilitate attachment of a tubular hang rod 26, as hereinafter described.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, tubular hang rod 25 is formed of a strip of metal bent into substantially rectangular shape. Hang rod 26 has a top wall 27, two side walls 28 and 29, two bottom walls 30 and 31, and two resilient wall portions 32 and 33. The resilient wall portions are parallel to side walls 28 and 29, and are formed by reversely bending the longitudinal edges of the metal strip to extend upwardly into the rectangle. The resilient wall portions are normally spaced apart a distance less than the thickness of upstanding wall 23 and each is approximately equal in height to the distance between supporting surface 22 and shoulders 25. The hang rod is positioned above upstanding wall 23 with resilient wall portions 32 and 33) engaging the top of upstanding wall 23, and then is pressed downwardly until bottom walls 30 and 31 engage supporting surface 22. Resilient wall portions 3-2 and 33 spread outwardly until their upper edges pass shoulders 25, and then snap into place with their upper edges abutting the shoulders. The hang rod may he slid longitudinally of the adapter, but cannot move upwardly relative to wall 23 unless the resilient wall portions are pried apart.

FIG. 3 shows a channel-shaped splice bar 34 comprising a top wall 35 and two side walls 36 and 37. The splice bar fits within the rectangular hang rod with side wall 36 engaging the inner surfaces of walls 23 and 39, side wall 37 engaging the inner surfaces of walls 29 and 31, and top wall 35 engaging the inner surface of top wall 27. If two hang rods are to be fixed in end to end relationship, the splice bar is slid into one of the hang rods for about half the length of the splice bar, and an adjoining hang rod is then slid over the portion of the splice bar projecting from the end of the first hang rod until the two hang rods abut. Preferably the hang rods are positioned so that each joint is directly above one of the adapters to provide extra stability for the hang rod installation. It will be noted that top wall 27 of the hang rod is spaced above the adapter far enough to prevent the adapter from interfering with the sliding movement of garment hangers longitudinally of the hang rod installation. The location of the splice bars within the hang rods enables the hang rods to present a smooth surface over which the garment hangers may be slid throughout the length of the hang rod installation.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, an adapter 38 has concave supporting surfaces 39. In all other respects it is the same as adapter 16, and the same reference numerals are used to indicate identical structure. The hang rod 40 is similar to hang rod 26 except that its side walls 41 and 42 are tapered inwardly from the top, and the lower surfaces of bottom walls 43 and 44 are rounded rather than flat. In this embodiment, concave surfaces 39 cooperate with the rounded surfaces 43 and 44, to urge the resilient wall portions 45 and 46, into tighter frictional engagement with upstanding wall 23 when the hang rod is loaded.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the adapter 38 has a hang'rod 47 mounted thereon. Hang rod 47 is of approximately diamond shape with a rounded top edge 48 in vertical alignment with upstanding wall 23. Hang rod 47 also has side walls 49 and 50, diverging downwardly from top edge 48 and side Walls 51 and 52 extending from the lower edges of side walls 49 and 50, respectively. Side walls 49 and 50 converge to rounded bottom edges 53 and 54 to complete the diamond shape. The longitudinal edges of the metal strip from which hang rod 47 is formed are reversely bent to form resilient wall portions 55 and 56, that are forced downwardly over upstanding wall 23 to snap into place under shoulders 25 just as in the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 4.

Although I have described three preferred embodiments of the invention in considerable detail, it will be understood that the description is intended to be illustrative, rather than restrictive, as many details of structure may be modified or changed without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, I do not desire to be restricted to the exact structure described.

I claim:

1. In a hang rod assembly, an adapter comprising a body portion and a support member integral with said body portion, said support member comprising a substantially flat support surface and an upstanding wall extending longitudinally of said support member, shoulders projecting outwardly from opposite sides of said upstanding wall, and a tubular hang rod substantially rectangular in cross-section and having bottom walls seated on said flat support surface and resilient wall portions extending inwardly from said bottom walls forming a slot and engaging opposite sides of said upstanding Wall, each 4 of said resilient wall portions being equal in height to the distance between said support surface and said shoulders.

2. In a hang rod assembly, an adapter comprising a body portion and a support member integral with said body portion, said body portion having a recess on one side thereof forming an abutment engageable with the top of a support bracket to facilitate securement of said adapter to a support bracket, said support member comprising a support surface and an upstanding wall extending longitudinally of said support member, shoulders projecting outwardly from opposite sides of said upstanding wall, and a tubular hang rod having a slot and resilient wall portions extending inwardly adjacent said slot and engaging opposite sides of said upstanding wall, each of said resilient wall portions being equal in height to the distance between said support surface and said shoulders.

3. In a hang rod assembly, an adapter comprising a body portion and a support member integral with said body portion, said support member comprising a support surface and an upstanding wall extending longitudinally of said support member, shoulders projecting outwardly from opposite sides of said upstanding wall, a tubular hang rod substantially rectangular in cross-section and having bottom walls seated on said support surface and resilient wall portions extending inwardly from said bottom walls forming a slot and engaging opposite sides of said upstanding wall, each of said resilient wall portions being equal in height to the distance between said support surface and said shoulders, and a channel-shaped splice bar slidable engaged within said tubular hang rod.

4. A hang rod assembly comprising a plurality of support brackets, an adapter mounted on each of said brackets, each of said adapters comprising a body portion and a support member integral with said body portion,-

said support member comprising a support surface and an upstanding wall extending longitudinally of said support member, shoulders projecting outwardly from opposite sides of said upstanding wall, a tubular hang rod having a slot and resilient wall portions extending inwardly adjacent said slot and engaging opposite sides of said upstanding wall, each of said resilient wall portions being equal in height to the distance between said support surface and said shoulders, and a splice bar positioned partly within said tubular hang rod, the outer surfaces of said splice bar being in engagement with the inner surfaces of said tubular hang rod throughout substantially the entire outer surface area of said splice bar within the hang rod.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,710,695 6/1955 Mazany 211105.3 2,833,522 5/1958 Michaels 256- 3,000,656 9/1961 Hollaender 287-2 3,028,148 4/1962 Crannell 25613.1 3,164,354 1/ 1965 Murdock 248-251 3,184,068 5/1965 Wende 2l123 JOHN PETO, Primary Examiner.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Examiner. 

1. IN A HANG ROD ASSEMBLY, AN ADAPTER COMPRISING A BODY PORTION AND A SUPPORT MEMBER INTEGRAL WITH SAID BODY PORTION, SAID SUPPORT MEMBER COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT SUPPORT SURFACE AND AN UPSTANDING WALL EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID SUPPORT MEMBER, SHOULDERS PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID UPSTANDING WALL, AND A TUBULAR HANG ROD SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR IN CROSS-SECTION AND HAVING BOTTOM WALLS SEATED ON SAID FLAT SUPPORT SURFACE AND RESILIENT WALL PORTIONS EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM SAID BOTTOM WALLS FORMING A SLOT AND ENGAGING OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID UPSTANDING WALL, EACH OF SAID RESILIENT WALL PORTIONS BEING EQUAL IN HEIGHT TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID SUPPORT SURFACE AND SAID SHOULDERS. 